THE PISTE SUB-FAMILY. 



* though Japanese authors mention the existence of several 

 having from 3 to 7 leaves in a sheath. Under a supposi- 

 tion that the P. Bunged na of Zuccariui, a native of Chi- 

 na, may be identical with one of the above, Murray has 

 described it as a native of Japan, and indeed Siebold ap- 

 parently inclined to the same opinion. On their authority 

 we have accordingly introduced it in our Japanese group 

 of pines. 



85, P, Bungeana, Zuccarini. Leaves, from 2 to 3 

 inches long, from short and very deciduous sheaths, very 

 rigid, crowded on the young shoots, convex on the outer 

 surface, keeled on the inner, serrulate on the margin, fre- 

 quently in bundles on the ends of the branches, and some- 

 what in whorls. Cones, 2 inches long, ovate, or slightly 

 conical, obtuse, with thin, concave scales, ending in a 

 short, stout, reflexed point, somewhat sunken. Seeds, 

 medium size, roundish, with a very short wing. 



We make the following extracts from Murray's Conif- 

 erse of Japan. " The native habitat of Mr. Fortune's tree 

 is far in the north of China, between Pekin and the west- 

 ern hills, one of the coldest and most desolate looking dis- 

 tricts in winter, which an inhabited and cultivated country 

 can well be. 



" The character and habit of this tree is very marked 

 and peculiar. In the young state it is chiefly distinguish- 

 ed from its allies by its light gray bark, and the absence 

 of sheaths to the bundles of leaves. But when of mature 

 age, and grown to its full size, its characteristics are much 

 more remarkable. Its bark peels off as in Arbutus An- 

 drachne, leaving the stem and branches nearly white, pro- 

 ducing, as may be supposed, a very peculiar effect. The 

 tree, too, grows with a very straight stem to the height 

 of about 4 or 5 feet, and about 2 feet in diameter, or a 

 little more. From this spring numerous branches, not 

 spreading out horizontally or divergently, as in other trees, 

 but rushing straight up to a great height. It is like a pol- 

 7* " 



